County of San Diego 2005/2006 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory

year), it should establish interim targets for every two- to three-year period. Near-term targets facilitate additional
support and accountability, and help to ensure continued momentum around the County’s local climate protection
efforts. To monitor the effectiveness of its programs, San Diego County should plan to re-inventory its emissions on
a regular basis; many jurisdictions are electing to perform annual inventories. See Appendix E for more information
on how to re-inventory the County’s emissions.
5.1.1 The Long-Term Goal
ICLEI recommends that the County of San Diego’s near-term climate work should be guided by the long-term goal
of reducing its emissions by 80 percent to 95 percent from the 2006 baseline level by the year 2050. By referencing
a long-term goal that is in accordance with current scientific understanding, the County can demonstrate that it
intends to do its part towards addressing greenhouse gas emissions from its internal operations.
It is important to keep in mind that it will be next to impossible for local governments to reduce emissions by 80 to
95 percent without the assistance of state and federal policy changes that create new incentives and new sources of
funding for emissions reduction projects and programs. However, in the next 15 years, there is much that local
governments can do to reduce emissions independently. It is also important that the County works to reduce its
emissions sooner, rather than later: the sooner a stable level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is achieved, the
less likely it is that some of the most dire climate change scenarios will be realized.
5.1.2 State of California Targets and
Guidance
An integral component of the State of California’s
climate approach has been establishing three core
emissions reduction targets at the community level.
While these targets are specific to the community-scale,
they can be used to inform emissions targets for
government operations as well. Figure 5.1 highlights
adopted emissions targets for the State. The AB 32
Scoping Plan also provides further guidance on
establishing targets for local governments; specifically
the Plan suggests creating an emissions reduction goal
of 15 percent below “current” levels by 2020. This target has informed many local government’s emission reduction
targets for municipal operations—most local governments in California with adopted targets have targets of 15 to 25
percent reductions under 2005 levels by 2020.
Figure 5.1: California Greenhouse
Gas Reduction Targets
On June 1, 2005, California Governor
Schwarzenegger signed Executive Order S-
3-05 establishing climate change emission
reductions targets for the State of California.
The California targets are an example of
near-, mid- and long-term targets:
Reduce emissions to 2000 levels by 2010
Reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2020
Reduce emissions to 80 percent below
1990 levels by 2050
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